The design and functionalities of mobile phones are continuously being improved to attract consumers. The trend moves towards incorporating an ever increasing range of features, including for example cameras and music players, and making the phones as slim and attractive as possible. However, new features require additional hardware components whereas slim housings reduce the space available for additional components. Consequently, it is desirable to make as good use of the available space as possible.
In conventional phones, SIM cards are often located under the battery and the opening to the SIM card slot is provided at the base of the battery compartment. The SIM card can only be inserted if the battery is first removed. However, in some slim designs, the overall thickness of the phone can be reduced if the SIM card is provided in the same plane as the battery, in which case the battery does not cover the opening to the SIM card. Moreover, space can be saved, even if the SIM card is located under the battery, by providing the opening to the SIM card slot along the side of the phone. If the battery does not cover the opening to the SIM card slot, the SIM card can be removed even when the phone is still powered by the battery. Removing the SIM card while the phone is on can damage the phone and corrupt the stored data on the SIM card. Consequently, it is desirably to prevent a user from removing the SIM card while the battery is inserted in the phone.
Moreover, to allow users to store audio and graphics on the phone, additional memory cards are often provided with the phones. It is desirable that these memory cards can easily be removed from the phones to be used in other electronic equipment such as PCs and photo printing devices. Typically, the memory cards are often located in slots with openings along the sides of the mobile phone. Consequently, it is often possible to remove the memory cards without first switching off the phone. Again, to prevent memory corruption, it is desirable to prevent the user from removing the memory cards while the phone is switched on.